The organizing committee proposes to convene an international three day meeting on Megakaryocyte Development and Function, at Woods Hole, MA. Topics would range from differentiation of stem cells to platelet shedding. The conference would be based on invited authoritative summaries of several individual areas by key workers within these fields, submitted shorter papers, workshops on technologies, and extensive discussions, both organized and informal. The purpose of the meeting is to synergize further progress in the field overall by presentations and discussions of the newest data as well as established and newer concepts, and by focussing on difficult problems needing attention. The last may include the control of and mechanism of platelet shedding, the specifity and physiologic significance of growth factors, purification and assay of thrombopoietin and colony stimulating factor, etc. Related areas/key words include stem cells, differentiation, in vitro cloning, platelet biochemistry and physiology, platelet production in disease, cell purification, polyploidy, and hemostasis.